Rarely do we gain such intimate insights into the life of a superstar as we do from Peter Freestone's memoir of Freddie Mercury's last years.As Personal Assistant to Freddie Mercury, Freestone lived with him, in Europe and America, for over a decade. From the West 50s apartment in New York to the Kensington Mews house where mercury died - not to mention the innumerable international hotel rooms and apartments in between - Freestone was always on hand to serve and protect the man he had first met in a department store in 1973.'I was the chief cook and bottle washer, waiter, butler, valet, secretary, amanuensis, cleaner, baby-sitter... and agony aunt. I shoed for him both at supermarkets and art markets, I travelled the world with him, I was with him at the highs and came through the lows with him. I saw the creative juices flow and I also saw the frustration when life wasn't going well. I acted as his bodyguard when needed and in the end, of course, I was one of his nurses.' Freestone's account of a talented and extravagant star's life and death is compelling, entertaining and, ultimately, touching.